I will never go back - I've had disappointing experiences with George periodically over the years, but today's was bad enough that I had to write about it.
The summary of the situation is I bought an entry level mandolin, quickly realized the instrument had some shortcomings and I needed to upgrade to a better model. The following interaction I had with George was him being condescending and defensive, revealing his no return policy that he never communicated, insisting everything is fine with the instrument, talking down to me like I've never played guitar before and justifying his inventory with misinformation. Let me explain in detail:
1 - George has a no return policy. Other stores do, but George doesn't, he doesn't communicate this at checkout and there's no information on the receipt. George is a fast talking salesman who has a great knowledge of technical guitar information, but clearly became flustered when I suggested a return because he started talking faster and louder like he was preparing for an argument before one happened. It was incredibly upsetting to see his defensiveness, and I knew this was not going to end in my favor. He wouldn't even accept store credit, but his eyes lit up when I suggested an upgrade.
2 - George, being the fast talking, guitar tech-savvy salesman, will inter-splice half truths with the facts to sell what he has. To justify the lack in quality of the a-style mandolin I was unhappy with, George proceeded to give me a paraphrased mandolin history and tell me how a-style mandolins have always been meant for beginners and real players want the f-style. This is a flat out lie. George sells Ibanez Mandolins only, and in terms of their product line the a-style is an entry level model followed by upgraded f-styles, therein lies the half-truth and an ugly sales tactic. I spent the past 3 years living in Nashville around folk musicians, most touring professionals - in fact, go to youtube right now and look up Tim O'Brien, a folk/americana legend. You will see him mostly playing a-style mandolins - but why would Tim O'Brien play beginner mandolins? He doesn't, and that means George doesn't mind lying to customers to complete a sale or solve a dispute.
3 - George is completely condescending. I've played guitar most of my life, and as I mentioned I was a songwriter in Nashville for a few years. I am new to playing mandolins but not acoustic instruments, and when I tried to explain how the cheap model had intonation issues as well as playability issues he went into long winded explanations about wood expanding and contracting and how I had to give it time to settle. The problems I found in the instrument are beyond this, but George was so wound up in his defense against the return he refused to listen to what I was actually saying. He was combative, even using anecdotes about misconceptions beginner guitar players have, insinuating I was one.
I ended up, with great regret and feeling pressured and trapped, upgrading. I figured I could at least walk out with something playable, but I should have cut my losses.
I kept coming back to George, even after similar condescending experiences, because I really wanted to support this local small business. This transaction wouldn't have been my last, and if I ended up happy I would have been appreciative and continued my business. However, if a store demonstrates time and again a lack of flexibility and poor customer service then it's hard to give my support when the competitors offer that in spades. It's unfortunate when a business owner cannot see the bigger picture trying to get every penny out of a situation, but what they're really doing is shooting themselves in the foot and hurting their business in the long run.
Sorry George, you lost me. read more
